Tongo Doumbia is struggling with English but his ability is not in question, according to Dean Saunders who praised his quality in the Hull victory.

“He played well,” he said. “He came on and did well against Bolton in the second half. He was on the front foot. We have had a decent run of wins and I’ve kept the same shape in the team.

“We’ve had Jamie O’Hara and Dave Davis, who came in and played really well, so he’s waited for his chance.

“I started him against Cardiff and he didn’t do so well but he played well on Tuesday – they all played well. You go right through the team and most of them got above-average marks.

“But Tongo is going to be a big player for us now.

“He struggles with the language. He struggles to understand sometimes in the meetings when I speak a bit quick. It took Thierry Henry two years (at Arsenal). He was hopeless for a year coming into English football.

“It is completely different to the football Tongo and (Bakary) Sako have played in but in the centre of midfield language is important because if your partner is stepping up alongside you it’s: ‘Left’, ‘Right’, ‘Behind you’, ‘Go to the ball’, ‘Stay here’.. those things.

“I have played abroad and you can’t say anything either. You know what the word means but it is too late to get the words out, when you are shouting to your partner it comes out too late.

“So it will take Tongo a bit of time to settle in but hopefully we will see the best of him next season.

“I told him that I like him as a player. He has got a lot of good tools, he is a good athlete and he covers the ground. He gets his foot in.

“He’s good on the ball, you can’t get it off him – it’s just the discipline side of things on the pitch where the rules change if you are in a three or in a two. He’s just got to learn all that.”